The Sleeping Curse Again
by Phoenix Aurorean
Summary: Confirmed as no longer one-shot. The Sleeping Curse again, recast with Emma and Killian.
1. The Sleeping Curse Again, Preface

**Okay, guys, I know it's a little odd, but I decided to restart. My attitude towards Regina has changed drastically over the past few ****_Once_**** episodes; after all...to begin with, wasn't she as sweet and kind and innocent as Snow? She may be a monster now, but she's Frankenstein's Monster, and Cora is Dr. Frankenstein (no OUAT pun intended, lol).**

**So Cora is the new baddie, and I promise: Chapter 2 is on its way!**

**Also, let me know if you still want/liked the previous version...if you do/did I'll find someplace to post it...**

**~Elizabeth**


	2. True Love, Too Late?

**So, here is The Sleeping Curse…Again, as recast with Emma and Killian.**

* * *

Emma ascended the crest of the green hill, her gun cocked and ready.

"All right, Cora…I got your message. Where are you?"

She appeared in a swirl of blue smoke in front of her, and Emma's gun left her grasp to fly into Cora's hand.

"There won't be any need for that, dear."

"What do you want?"

"Only to give you a gift."

Reaching beneath her dark blue cloak, Cora withdrew an object from a pouch at her belt and held it up: a flawless apple as red as blood.

Emma gave a short laugh. "A _gift?_ _Really_? Let me guess: it's laced with a sleeping curse."

"Clever girl," Cora smiled. "Indeed it is."

Crossing her arms, Emma rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Okay, let's have it. What could _possibly_ make me take that apple?"

Cora's smile managed to be both dark and charming. "If you don't, with but a twist of my wrist, your mother Snow White will lose her heart. And that pirate you care for, _Hook—_will die."

Just like that, sarcasm gone. Emma felt the jaws of the trap snapping shut. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, he's safe. For now. In the cells beneath my daughter's house. But if you refuse the apple, he will not live to see the morning, and I shall deliver your mother's heart to my daughter in a silver box."

"_Why_? Why are you doing this?"

"Because what my daughter wants more than anything in the world is Snow White's suffering. And I'll get it, one way or another, with or without you. It matters little who gets in my way. I can dispose of them easily enough."

Emma felt her heart drop like a stone, and tears pooled above her lower lids. At long last, she had a family—and someone she loved…and she was going to lose both. "Fine. I take that apple…but you do not harm Mary Margaret, David, Henry, or Killian. Deal?"

Cora dipped her head. "Very well."

Emma took the apple from Cora's hand. "Congratulations, Your Majesty," she said, unconsciously echoing her mother's words from all those years ago. "You've won."

She bit deeply into the apple, and Cora watched her eagerly as she chewed it. Emma choked without a sound as the bite went down, and the apple fell from her fingers and rolled out of sight. She collapsed to the grass and did not move again.

Cora gently gathered her lifeless form into her arms, and vanished in a swirl of blue smoke. She reappeared in Barrie Square, a few blocks south of the Storybrooke clock tower. It was still dark, but splashes of pale pink and red were streaking the eastern horizon, heralding the dawn. The Square was empty, except for a bird or two and a pair of squirrels, who promptly scattered at Cora's appearance.

With a flick of her finger, Snow White's famous glass coffin—restored and whole again—appeared beneath the great tree in the center of the Square. Another flick of Cora's finger levitated the glass lid to rest on the ground beside the coffin bed. As gently as if Emma were a child, Cora lowered her down onto the coffin bed and arranged her hands over her waist.

A wave of her hands transformed Emma's red jacket, tank and jeans into a long, flowing white fairy-make dress that sparkled with the fairies' special touch, and flushed a faint red at the edges of the sweeping hem and sleeves. Opaque silver glass slippers peeked out from beneath the dress's hem, and a slender silver circlet glittered amid the waves of her golden hair.

Satisfied with her work, Cora took a step back and murmured softly into the silence of the Square. Above Emma, something glimmered and began to grow, taking on the shape of a giant, transparent bubble as it stretched down to touch the ground. At length, a great glimmering shield encompassed the glass coffin of Snow White, as it bore the sleeping form of Snow White's daughter.

"Sweet dreams, child," Cora whispered, and vanished.

* * *

In the cells deep beneath the Mayor's house, Killian was desperately trying to pick the lock of his cell door with his hook when he reeled from a sudden sharp pain in his chest. It was like a knife in his heart, twisting slowly, agonizingly. He groaned and hung onto the bars of his cell with his hook as he pressed his hand into a fist over his chest, vainly trying to stop the pain.

"What is this…this devil's magic?"

And then unbidden, Cora's malicious words as she locked him up rose to the forefront of his mind.

* * *

"Emma is my object, pirate. Not you."

"What has she done to you? Cora, if it's blood you're after, take _mine_. God knows at least _I_ deserve it."

The Queen of Hearts's smile turned wicked. "Oh, I'm not after blood. Her fate shall be one more terrible than death. And through causing that fate, I shall effect more suffering for Snow White than if I had killed any of her loved ones."

"Why would you want to cause suffering for Snow White?"

"Because it is my daughter's dearest wish," said Cora simply.

As she magically slammed the cell door shut behind her, she had held up a single object for him to see as she walked away: a gleaming, blood-red apple.

* * *

Horror flooded Killian's mind as the memory of that apple flashed before his eyes. He had heard the stories of Snow White, Emma's mother, and the cursed apple that had sent her into a deathlike sleep.

_No…that apple…Emma…_

"Cora!" he shouted, clutching his chest and hauling himself up by the bars of the cell. "What have you done to her? _What have you done?_ _EMMA!_"

As soon as her name was out of his mouth, the cell vanished as blue smoke swirled up and consumed him like a cloud. A moment later, he fell to the black pavement of the street before Storybrooke's clock tower. Wincing, he picked himself up and looked around.

The sun's first rays were just shooting up over the edge of the eastern sky, and a few of Storybrooke's citizens were already moving about its streets.

"What the bloody _hell_ are you playing at, Cora?"


	3. True Love's Hope Springs Eternal

**As promised, here is Chapter 2, only a day later…lucky you!**

**Are we all holding up under the stress of no new OUAT? We will survive, guys.**

**Together.**

**With a little faith, trust, and pixie dust.**

**WE. WILL. MAKE. IT.**

**I appreciate every single follow and favorite, not to mention every last kind review! You guys are much too generous! I love you all!**

**~Elizabeth**

* * *

"Killian!" called a familiar voice.

He turned to see Henry come hurrying up to him, his knapsack on his back, undoubtedly in preparation to go to school.

"Hullo, Henry my lad," he said, sinking down on one knee to greet him at eye level.

"Have you seen Emma? She—she didn't come home last night." The boy's eyebrows furrowed and he reached out to touch Killian's cheek. "Are you okay? Looks like you scraped yourself up pretty good."

"Ah." His own fingers found the wide path of scratches, most likely from when Cora had deposited him on the rough stone Storybrooke's roads were made of. "It's nothing, lad…but as to Emma, I'm looking for her myself—"

A shrill woman's scream pierced the morning air. Both Killian and Henry jumped, and the former was back on his feet in an instant.

Henry looked up at him, a touch of both curiosity and unease in his eyes. "Sounded like it came from Barrie Square."

"Lead the way, lad!"

Together they ran past several of Storybrooke's buildings, Henry trotting to keep up with Killian's long strides, and he led him to an archway that opened up into a cobblestoned courtyard. A fountain graced by a small cupid boy was tucked away in one back corner, and a large tree with wide-spreading branches was in the center. Standing in the courtyard was a young woman dressed in red, shaking hands pressed over her mouth and tears spilling over her fingers.

"Are you all right, lass?" Killian said, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Ruby," said Henry. "What's wrong?"

And then Killian saw it.

The famous glass coffin of Snow White, and lying upon it…

Emma. The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.

Killian had been made aware of her parentage soon after meeting her, but it rarely crossed his mind afterwards. Emma always just seemed so _far_ from that, with her red leather, breeches, boots, and demeanor that constantly said, _Damn the whole world. I'll fight for me and mine, come hell or high water_.

Abiding by _that_, what he knew of her, the sight before his eyes shook him to his core.

The delicately-wrought, dwarf-make lid of the coffin, glass interwoven with wooden veins, lay on the ground beside, and on a bed of white lay Emma, the Princess. She had been dressed in a long white gown that glimmered as if it had been woven by fairies, the edges of the sweeping sleeves and hem tinged with faint red. No jewels adorned her throat, wrists or fingers, but a slender circlet of silver peeped out from amid her hair as it cascaded out beneath her head and shoulders like molten gold. Her eyes were closed, her hands were folded together over her waist, and her face was as pale as her mother's name.

His heart broke at the sight of her still, white face.

_Emma…my darling Emma…_

He stumbled forward to the shadow of the tree, intending to kneel at his fallen angel's side, but at about a couple feet from the coffin he came up hard against an invisible _something_. As he reeled back, a giant transparent bubble melted into view, rippling in the spot where he must have hit it. He put both hand and hook on it, and although it rippled around them, it felt as hard as glass. He sank to his knees, hand and hook sliding down the magical barrier as he did so.

_Emma…_he whispered, again and again.

So close…and yet he could not touch her, not even one last time.

Henry's voice sounded at his side. "What's the matter with her? Who did this?"

"_EMMA!_" came an anguished scream, and Snow White and Prince Charming joined them at the edge of the magical barrier.

"No…no…no…Emma…" the Princess sobbed, feverishly running her hands over the shield, vainly searching for a chink, an opening, a weak spot. "Not you, Emma…not you…"

The Prince only had eyes for his daughter.

"Did Regina do this?" he said, turning to Killian with barely controlled anger on his face, despite the tears that were streaming down it.

"No!" cried Henry, pain on his small face. "She promised!"

"She didn't…" Killian murmured. "Cora did."

"_Cora?_" Charming repeated, and the rising level of rage in his voice was almost tangible. "Where is she? Hook—_where is she?_"

"I don't know," he said, his eyes never leaving Emma's white face. He felt a flash of rage himself. "If I did, I'd rip her heart out for this atrocity of magic."

_Magic…_

The glimmer of an idea—a hope, stirred in Killian's head. He looked away from Emma to stare at the curved, gleaming piece of silver metal attached to the casing on his left wrist.

_If anyone can…_she_ can…_

He rose from beside the magical barrier and began walking toward the Storybrooke main roads.

"Killian!" Henry cried. "Where are you going?"

"What are you on to, Hook?" called Charming.

"_Don't_ follow me," Killian commanded, turning round for one moment. "I'm going to see the Queen."

* * *

Regina yawned as she fastened the belt on her robe and went down the stairs to the kitchen. As she walked through the doorway, a voice said, "Good morning, Regina."

Cora was sitting at the kitchen table, magically stirring a cup of coffee.

Regina stumbled back against the doorframe, her face paling as white as paper. "_Mother?_ What the hell are you _doing_ here?"

"Language, Regina," said Cora sternly. "After all these years, is that any way to address your mother? Come, dear. The coffee is piping hot. I must admit—this world does not offer much in the way of magic, but this _coffee_ is a delightful novelty."

"_What are you doing here?_" Regina whispered.

Cora levitated the spoon out of her cup and down to the table, and took a delicate sip of her coffee. "I've given you exactly what you've always wanted: Snow White's suffering."

"What? Mother—what are you talking about?"

"In the place you call Barrie Square rests the glass coffin the dwarves fashioned for Snow White. But this time, it's her daughter who lies there."

"Mother, what did you _do?_"

"I've given you your son back, my darling. You are now his sole mother. Snow's daughter will never wake—the sleeping curse is protected by a barrier spell."

Regina said nothing. She imagined that Snow and Charming and their friends were all gathered around Emma's coffin, now. One face flashed before her eyes, brighter and more vivid than all the rest: Henry's, wracked with pain and grief, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The vision almost broke her heart. She glared at Cora.

"You had _no right_, Mother. What is between me and Snow is between me and Snow. No one else. And who are _you_ to give _me_ my son back?"

Cora looked absolutely affronted. "How is _that_ for gratitude?"

"Besides," Regina said more quietly, half to herself, "Henry would never forgive me if I just stood by and let this happen."

"What did you say?"

Regina stared at her coldly. "Leave my house. Immediately."

Cora stood up, drawing herself up to her full height, and she looked beyond angry. She looked outraged. Regina prepared herself to use magic, steeled herself for an incoming attack.

_I'm sorry, Henry. I keep breaking my promise_.

But Cora made no move to go on the offensive.

"You'll live to regret this, Regina. Someday soon, you just might need me, and I won't be here."

"I'll take that chance," Regina said icily.

With a whirl of her dark blue cloak, Cora vanished in billowing blue smoke. "We shall see." The words echoed faintly on the air, like a breath left behind.

Regina sank into a chair, putting her head in her hands and trying to calm her racing pulse.

_Thank God…I was far from ready…if she had decided to fight—_

Her thready and nervous thoughts were disrupted by the sound of someone knocking hard and fast on the front door, and a familiar voice cried, "Regina! Your Majesty!"

Hook stood there when she opened the door, and she couldn't remember seeing the pirate captain so agitated. He was as pale as death.

"Captain!" she said. "Come in…you're as white as a sheet. Are you ill?"

He swallowed and took a deep breath. "Majesty, I want to strike a deal with you."

Regina was taken aback. "Captain, I—I'm not in the business of making—"

"I need you to enchant my hook again," he said. "But this time to negate magic, neutralize it. Can you do it?"

"Captain, I—"

"In exchange, you can have me—my heart. I'll be yours to command. Forever, if that is your wish."

Regina was staggered. What he was offering…_everything_. He was giving up and giving away _everything_…his life, his freedom…all for one small enchantment, and she knew what it was for. If this was not a sign of true love…she didn't know what was.

"I made a promise to my son a little while ago," she said quietly. "That promise prevents me from taking your price, Captain."

She had just refused to accept his offer of voluntary slavery, but with all the pain and anguish on his face she might have just as well signed his death-warrant. "Majesty—"

She took his hook in both hands, and ran one finger along its edge. Inch by inch, she infused its metal with the magic he asked for. It glowed bright blue, and then faded to silver again.

"I promised my son that I would not use magic except for good," she continued. She gave him a small smile. "Go. Save her."

He looked at her with as much gratitude as if he were a man dying of thirst and she had just given him a cup of clear, cold water. Swiftly he bent and kissed her hand. "Thank you, Majesty…thank you…"

"Wait," she said, catching up her coat and scarf from the hanger by the door. "I'm coming with you."

"As you wish."

With that, they headed out into Storybrooke.


	4. The Most Powerful Magic of All:True Love

**So the wait's over, shipmates…what do we think of ****_The Cricket Game?_**** Not quite the episode we hoped for, perhaps…but I have a strong feeling that this next one is going to be all kinds of satisfying! (Insert wicked, Hook-worthy smile)**

**Just one more week…less, even. We can make it, right?**

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter done, guys! But here it is:**

**The Final Chapter: The Most Powerful Magic of All…True Love**

**I hope it's worth the wait! Thank you to all you darlings who favorited, followed and bore the waiting with patience that would put Jiminy Cricket and the Blue Fairy to shame! I love you all!**

**~Elizabeth**

* * *

Killian raced through the streets of Storybrooke with every ounce of strength and speed he could force into his legs, Regina only a step or two behind him. He was gasping by the time he reached the courtyard where his precious Emma lay, but he ignored the burning of his lungs and made his way through the throng of friends and well-wishers gathered to honor and watch over their sleeping Princess.

Henry's face lit up at the sight of him and Regina. "Killian! Mom—what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help," she said, putting a gentle arm around his shoulders.

It never ceased to amaze Killian how the powerful and ruthless Queen could be so quickly transformed into a caring and compassionate woman by a mere look from that boy. He truly had her wrapped around his finger.

"What's the plan?" said Henry, looking up at them, for all the world as if they were the heroes arrived to save the day.

"This is the plan," Killian said, flourishing his hook. "A gift from your mother, lad."

Henry looked up at her. "Magic?"

"A spell to counteract magic, dear. It should allow him to penetrate the shield my mother put up to cut Emma off from the world."

"So…it _was_ your mother who did this?"

Regina hesitated only a moment. "Yes. She did it because she was convinced it was the perfect punishment I would have wanted for your grandparents. But…I did not agree."

Henry beamed at her. "I guess that explains Killian's new hook." He looked up at Killian, brimming with faith and confidence. "Go get her, Captain."

Killian couldn't help but smile. "Aye, sir," he said with a sweeping, elegant salute.

Snow White and Charming did not seem to have moved from the edge of the magical barrier.

"Majesties," he said as he approached them, "If you will kindly move aside…"

"What are you going to do?" Snow White said, her tone tinged with suspicion.

Killian fingered his hook. "I'm going to pierce the barrier to reach your daughter."

"And then what?" said Charming.

He paused for a moment. "I'm going to attempt the one thing that can break a sleeping curse."

"True love's kiss," said Snow White.

"Absolutely not!" Charming snapped, bristling and drawing himself up to his full height. "What makes you think _you_ can succeed any more than any of us, _pirate?_"

Charming probably had about two or three inches on Killian, but Killian made up the difference in sheer commanding presence that left no doubt in the minds of those present: he was every inch Captain Hook.

"Let me ask you this, _Majesty:_ which of us has a spell that will get one through that barrier? Wait a moment—" he brandished his hook. "_I _do."

With that, he stabbed the point of his hook on the surface of the transparent bubble. The magical barrier gave way before it like butter, and he slid it up and then down vertically, opening up a large enough tear to admit him. It felt like trying to squeeze past stone as he pushed himself through, and the resulting momentum had him tumbling to the cobblestoned street within the confines of the barrier. As soon as he was through, the magical shield repaired itself, sealing the tear he had made in it.

On the other side, Henry gave him what they called in this realm a "thumbs-up", a gesture of encouragement, and he nodded at him.

He approached the glass coffin with all the reverent hesitation of a sinner going to kneel at the holy altar, and in his heart of hearts he knew he—Killian Jones—was undeserving of the angel lying there in the deepest of slumbers. And yet he was the best hope for her safe return.

He bent over the edge of the coffin—and hesitated.

"Emma, darling," he whispered. "They say true love's kiss needs two to work. I do not know if I have anything more than your respect, or if I have even that. But _I_ love _you_, Emma…in spite of all, of everything…I love your heart…your spirit…the fire that drives you to protect the ones _you_ love…

I just pray it's enough, enough to bring you back to us—to _me_…"

_Please, let this work…_

Slowly, he bent down over the coffin, and claimed the snow-white lips of his sleeping princess in what was perhaps the first kiss with pure and selfless intent—in his entire life.

He felt something shoot through him and around him—a wave of energy, or magic. Warmth raced through him and at the same time a powerful breeze—like a cool westerly on the high seas—flew past him, caressing his skin and ruffling his hair. He started and drew back, in time to see a wave of golden light racing outward from him and Emma into the distance and disappearing, like a ripple on the surface of still water.

Emma's eyes flew open, and she drew a deep gasping breath, like she had been holding the air in her lungs.

Killian's heart missed a beat, and then began to pound almost painfully in his chest.

"Emma…my darling Emma…" he breathed, tangling his shaking hand in the shining gold haloing her head.

"I was hoping it would be you," she said.

Those seven words just about undid him. He captured her lips with his again, kissing both desperately and tenderly at the same time.

"I take my eyes off of you for a second, darling…"

Emma's smile was brighter than fairy dust and warmer than firelight. "Somehow I knew you would find me, and look at that—I wasn't wrong about you."

As the voices and glad cries of family and friends surrounded them, Killian gathered her to his heart and whispered in her ear, "I will _always_ find you, Emma."


End file.
